Hi,
My cousin, she is 20 years old. She was diagnosed with lupus at the age of 12. In the begining it was not so bad; however, for the past 3 years she has been in and out of the hospital. She has been walking with crutches for the past two years. About two months ago she had ankle infusion, so she thought she will be able to walk again. About a month ago she went back to the hospital because her stitches were pulling out, as per doc wound was infected. At the hospital they placed her under some machine which would keep the stitches together. Her ankle is healing fine, but lupus has flared up. Before ankle surgery she was fine, I guess she was in a remission stage. She was in the ICU because she was not able to eat or rink anything. Even if she drank a little water or ate one grape she would throw up. She is on continuous IV. She has water accumulated around her liver, one side of her stomach is swollen, and now she is complaining of pain in the lower part of her stomach. She is able to eat, but she gets pain after her meal. They have done many blood tests, MRI's, and CT scan as per docs everything is normal. They dont know why she is having this pain. Her parents and herself are very tired of all the tests and of course the disease.
Please let me know if anyone is experiencing or has experienced these symptoms. What could possible wrong with her besides lupus?
We are all very worried for her and pray for her to get better!
Thank you so much for any advise or any feed back!
Greatly appreciated,
Nasim.

10-17-2006, 11:01 AM

MARYCAIN

Hello, Nasim. Lupus can affect many organs in the body, and cause inflammation, swelling and fluid retention. Has your cousin been seen by a gastrointestinal specialist (a doctor who specializes in diseases and conditions that affect the digestive system). This type of specialist might be able to suggest other tests that might explain her symptoms. I hope you are able to find an answer soon - i know this must be a very stressful time. Your cousin is very lucky to have someone like you to help her.